Retailers posted only a 0.1 percent average increase over last holiday season, according to the Michigan Retail Index, a joint project of MRA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

"Retailers were hit by arctic air, snow and ice storms that knocked out power across the state during the critical final days of the holiday shopping season, when stores should have been full," said James P. Hallan, MRA president and CEO.

"At the same time, they continued to be hurt by badly out-of-date laws that give out-of-state online merchants a price advantage over our Michigan companies that invest in Michigan, employ Michigan workers, pay taxes in Michigan and support their Michigan communities."

He added, "Lawmakers cannot let another Christmas go by without enacting Main Street Fairness legislation to enable Michigan businesses to compete on an equal footing with out-of-state 'vapor' retailers and put an end to government picking winners and losers on the retail playing field."

Retailers went into the already compressed shopping season with cautious optimism, their forecasts averaging a modest 1.3 percent gain over last year. The results were even weaker.

December sales were slightly better than November's. The Index found that 39 percent of retailers increased sales over the same month last year, while 44 percent recorded declines and 17 percent saw no change. The results create a seasonally adjusted performance index of 50.5, up from 46.7 in November.

The 100-point Index gauges the performance of the state's overall retail industry, based on monthly surveys conducted by MRA and the Federal Reserve. Index values above 50 generally indicate positive activity; the higher the number, the stronger the activity.

Looking forward, 42 percent of retailers expect sales during January-March to increase over the same period last year, while 25 percent project a decrease and 33 percent no change. That puts the seasonally adjusted outlook index at 63.3, up from 58.4 in November.

Note: William Strauss, senior economist and economic advisor with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, can be reached at 312.322.8151.

December Performance Retailers reporting increased, decreased or unchanged sales, inventory, prices, promotions and hiring compared to the same month a year ago(numbers in parentheses indicate November results)

% Increased

% Decreased

% No Change

Index*

Responses

Sales

39 (35)

44 (42)

17 (23)

50.5 (46.7)

102 (57)

Inventory

38 (27)

28 (16)

34 (57)

60.5 (52.1)

102 (56)

Prices

25 (16)

7 (5)

68 (79)

61.1 (56.1)

101 (56)

Promotions

41 (32)

7 (5)

52 (63)

64.8 (61.1)

101 (56)

Hiring

8 (9)

7 (11)

85 (80)

53.3 (50.9)

101 (55)

Outlook for Next 3 MonthsRetailers expecting increased, decreased or unchanged sales, inventory, prices, promotions and hiring compared to the same period a year ago (numbers in parentheses indicate November results)

% Increased

% Decreased

% No Change

Index*

Responses

Sales

42 (30)

25 (23)

33 (47)

63.3 (58.4)

101 (57)

Inventory

34 (13)

28 (37)

38 (50)

61.2 (44.1)

101 (56)

Prices

28 (16)

12 (11)

60 (73)

57.3 (53.3)

100 (56)

Promotions

33 (31)

4 (7)

63 (62)

66.6 (66.3)

101 (55)

Hiring

9 (7)

5 (9)

86 (84)

53.8 (53.0)

101 (56)

December Sales Performance & Outlook for Next 3 Months, by Region (the first number indicates sales performance for the month; the number in parentheses indicates outlook for the next three months)

% Increased

% Decreased

% No Change

North

47 (27)

33 (40)

20 (33)

West

37 (41)

33 (18)

30 (41)

Central

36 (46)

43 (23)

21 (31)

East

45 (22)

44 (22)

11 (56)

Southeast

42 (52)

55 (29)

3 (19)

Question of the Month
How much did your holiday sales increase or decrease over last year? Avg. +0.1%

Increase greater than 5%

Increase between 0-5%

No change

Decrease between 0-5%

Decrease greater than 5%

26%

12%

21%

17%

24%

How much did your 2013 sales increase or decrease over last year? Avg. +0.9%

Increase greater than 5%

Increase between 0-5%

No change

Decrease between 0-5%

Decrease greater than 5%

30%

24%

12%

21%

14%

*Seasonally adjusted diffusion index. A diffusion index, which is the sum of the percent of respondents indicating increase and half the percent indicating no change, is calculated and then seasonally adjusted using the U.S. Census Bureau's X-11 Seasonal Adjustment procedure. Index values above 50 generally indicate an increase in activity, while values below 50 indicate a decrease.